Unchangeable

Part Four

I lie down on my bed. It sinks beneath with my weight. My stomach rumbles. I grab my purse and get out the map of the campus. I locate the campus shop for food and leave my room. 

Girls in groups of two and three walk along the paths, giggling and gossiping. It seems as though people are already a step ahead of me in the 'socializing' section. I'll get to that tomorrow. Elisa Ettens will not be a nobody.

I see the campus shop and walk through the door. It has everything from toothpaste and shampoo to snacks and socks. I grab a granola bar and some peppermints. I walk to the check-out area and toss my snacks on the counter.

I'm greeted by another too cheery girl. "Hi, welcome to Halridge. Is that all?"

I grit my teeth and nod.

She scans the items and chirps, "That will be three dollars."

I pull three crumpled dollars out of my wallet and hand them over.

"Thanks. Enjoy Halridge!"

I roll my eyes and walk out of the store. I make my way back to the dorms, munching on my granola bar. The sun has begun setting.

I reach my room and sit on my bed. I find a packet on my bed that tells me all I need to know to ‘Enjoy Halridge!’ I pop a peppermint into my mouth and page through it.

Someone knocka my door. It must be the worker bringing the rest of my luggage.

I begin to rise, but the person shouts, "Luggage. I've got a key."

A key rattles in the lock.

I suck on the peppermint and flip the page of the packet over. I don't even glance up as the door opens. I don't want to risk hearing another, ‘Hello! Welcome to Halridge! Enjoy Halridge!’

That better be just a first day thing, because I don't think I can handle it for the next couple of days.

The person shifts around my room near my luggage

I wait for the worker to leave.

They don't.

I risk a glance up.

Adam Kunzite.

In. My. Room.

With. A. Knife.

He sends the knife sailing towards me. I roll off my bed and land in a crouch. The knife whizzes past me, hits the wall, and sticks.

Where's my knife? Where's my knife? Where's my knife? How could I be so stupid? How did he even get a key? I was not planning on being murdered in my own room.

I hear heavy footsteps come in my direction.

I was expecting days before a confrontation with Adam. Not the first night here.

I spot one of my knives on my desk. I dart out from behind my bed and roll. I leap up to grab the knife but I'm tackled. We roll and slam against the wall. The air is knocked out of my lungs. Before I can even react, I'm pushed against the wall. Adam pins me there and holds a knife against my throat. He applies only slight pressure.

I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. My father will be so ashamed.

Seeing my expression of fear, he smiles slowly.

"Hello, Elisa Ettens." He drawls, "Or should I say, Onyx Iolite."

I give him a fake smile, recovering, "Hello, Adam Kunzite. What name are you going by here?"

His smirk drops a bit. He says, "Fredrick Nallen."

A haughty laugh slips out. "Almost as bad as Elise Ettens.”

"I think mine's worse," he says.

I roll my eyes, waiting for him to put more pressure on the knife and end my life. I need to stall.

We both pretend to be happy and nonchalant but tension runs through the room.

His fake cheery attitude slips, "You know I have to kill you right?"

 "And, I have to kill you."

 "I don't think I can do it," he whispers. The pressure slackens slightly but I still can't move.

"What?" I nearly shout. He's a Kunzite. Just like me, he has been trained to kill since he was a toddler. Why is he admitting his weakness to me, the enemy? Is that his strategy? To confuse me and make me drop my guard?

I swallow hard at my outburst. Stupid, stupid, stupid. My outburst makes me look weak.

Adam nods, "I don't think I can kill someone yet. I-I don't want this. I'm sixteen and your fifteen and our fathers expect us to kill each other?"

It makes no sense. What is his strategy here?

"Listen, Onyx, we could work together. We could both convince our families that we killed each other."

I want to laugh at him. It's impossible, we can't convince both our families. I just keep a straight face. I swallow, my throat scraping against the knife.

"Onyx, do you really want to kill me? Are you that twisted, that inhumane, that you are willing to murder someone? Willing to just take away someone's life?"

I don't want to kill him. I don't want to kill anyone. But there's nothing I can do about it. My father said to kill him so I have to kill him.

"Onyx, I've got a plan. It just might work."

"You don't know my father," I say in barely a whisper. "He would know."

"I don't want to kill you, but I'm not going to let you kill me either. Don't you get it, Onyx? I hate my family. I hate being a Kunzite. I will go into hiding. My family will think I'm dead. Your family will think I'm dead. And I will just be a normal person who doesn't have to cheat and lie and kill my whole life. That's what I want. To be normal. And you could say you killed me."

He’s foolish and naive. I thought like that when I was six. I used to pretend that I could have a normal life. But I know I never will, not when I'm an Iolite. Just like Adam can never have a normal life.

"Can I just tell you the details?" Adam's getting desperate.

"Fine." I snap. "But let's talk outside, okay? I've got luggage coming yet and I don't want people overhearing our discussion of our murder plans."

He nods, unable to keep the relief off his face. He slips his knife into his pocket and walks out the door. I grab my purse and follow.

By now it's dark outside. There are barely any people left on the paths. We walk quickly until we reach a place that's secluded so we won't be overheard. Trees surround us and the fountains cover up any noise.

I turn to Adam, "Why did you have a knife in your hand if you weren't going to kill me?"

"I wanted to be prepared just in case you attacked me. Like I said, I may not want to kill you, but I don't want to die either."

"Now, the details to your plan?" I prompt.

"Right, so I thought that we could-" I quickly kick the back of his knees. It's not hard enough to leave a bruise but it makes his knees buckle. He falls hard on the pavement, face down. I immediately jump on him, pinning his arms above his head. He's hyperventilating. Even though he's bigger than I, I have been trained for this kind of thing. He resists and struggles, but he can't get free from my hold. After a minute of struggling, he relaxes. He knows he has no chance.

I reach in my purse with one hand, the other still holding him down, and pull out the syringe.

As I place the needle on the vein of his neck I whisper, "You never would have had a normal life, you know that right? Your little plan would have made my life horrible and I won't let that happen. You've let your family down. Goodbye, Adam Kunzite."

I plunge the poison into his vein. He thrashes for a couple of seconds and goes still.